Good Friday

I’d been looking forward to this weekend for absolutely ages. Going down to Cardiff on Good Friday to get some beers in and watch sport all day, followed by staying in Cardiff to watch sport all day then going to watch Anthony Joshua in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday night. I got the bus to Bristol then hopped in for a lift with Bone over the bridge and on to Patrick’s house for the booze and sportathon to begin. We nipped over to Asda first to get some supplies, though when we arrived, our gracious host had already got a couple of brews to start the day off.

Pint No. 99

What? – Marston’s, 61 Deep

Where? – Oad’s gaff, Cardiff

When? – Friday 30th March 2018

I went with Marston’s 61 Deep, named for the depth (in meters) of the well at the brewery. I quite liked this one, it’s fairly refreshing and light and very drinkable. The beer was quite fruity in smell and taste.

Overall Score: 3/5

Pint No. 100

What? – Tomos Watkins, Taffy Apples

Where? – Oad’s gaff, Cardiff

When? – Friday 30th March 2018

I was really unsure about buying Taffy Apples as I was concerned it would be super sweet. I favour a dry cider and was worried that this would be toffee sweet. Fortunately, it seems as though the pun was there for the sake of it, rather than as an indicator of the sweetness. It was really quite crisp and tasty. Pleased with this punt.

Overall Score: 3.5/5

Sticking with the Welsh bottles and indeed with the Tomos Watkins brewery, I cracked open another.

Pint No. 101

What? – Tomos Watkins, Cwrw Idris

Where? – Oad’s gaff, Cardiff

When? – Friday 30th March 2018

Unfortunately, this was another case of a beer being worse than the story that inspired it. A sailor named Idris Parry managed to survive being torpedoed on two separate occasions in the First World War. Allegedly, he vowed never to go near salt water again and spent the rest of his days boozing. I normally give short shrift to these stories, but I must admit I quite liked this one. Taste wise, it was quite sweet with a sort of caramel/honey hint.

Overall Score: 2/5

Pint No. 102

What? – Bragdy Conwy, Honey Fayre

Where? – Oad’s gaff, Cardiff

When? – Friday 30th March 2018

Next up I had a bottle of Honey Fayre by Conwy a brewery in Colwyn Bay, Wales (as if you couldn’t tell by all of the Ys and Ws in the name). It did smell a little of honey but not as much as I’d expected given the name. It also didn’t have that much of a honey taste. Probably wouldn’t bother with this one again.

Overall Score: 2/5

We’d been in Patrick’s house for a huge amount of time just drinking and watching sport. This is absolutely fine and basically all any of us wanted. However, our girlfriends were all on a hen do so we thought we should probably go out so we had something to say when they asked.

Pint No. 103

What? – Tuborg

Where? – The Bierkeller, Cardiff

When? – Friday 30th March 2018

We decided to get a cab down to The Bierkeller by The Millennium Stadium to have a German knees up and some food. It was only when we got there that we found out the actual Bierkeller bit wouldn’t let us in. Fortunately there’s a sports bar area with the biggest TV I’ve ever seen in my life in it. It honestly hurt your eyes it was so big. Sunderland v Derby was on the telly which is hardly the greatest match in history but sport is sport so it got watched. Even though we couldn’t get into the bierkeller bit, this bar also sold beer in steins, so I decided to make pint 103 a double. Unfortunately, I’d had mostly everything that was on offer aside from Tuborg, so that’s what I bought. I knew I’d be disappointed but it didn’t help the stein was plastic. You couldn’t even bash them together! Anyway, I’ve had Tuborg in Copenhagen where it’s actually from and it was shit there, so I knew it would be shit here too. It had that sort of pissy aftertaste common with shit lagers and this was not helped by the fact that I had such a big glass of it. I had a spicy German hot dog with it which resulted in some grim gas.

Overall Score: 1.5/5

When the game was over, we moved into a different room where they had a big old shuffleboard table. We’d never played shuffleboard before so it was a bit of a learning curve, but it’s basically a cross between Curling and Crown Green Bowls but on a table. It was fun but Bone dominated. I’d finished my stein by this point so had to move on to something else.

Pint No. 104

What? – Grimbergen, Blonde

Where? – The Bierkeller, Cardiff

When? – Friday 30th March 2018

My last of the day was Grimbergen Blonde, a 6.7% Belgian Pale Ale. I think there may have been something up with the pumps for this one because it was kinda shitty. Not unpleasant to drink, but it didn’t smell nice and was fairly unremarkable. It was a bit too sweet.